NCAA Tournament First Round Saturday Open Thread

Phew... Now that the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team casually strolled away with a double-digit win over San Diego State, we live to fight another day. And before that day, there’s an entire Saturday of games to watch.

Below is your schedule for the entire slate of games. No matter what happens, Syracuse still won on Friday and that’s what counts most.

(all times ET)

5-seed Colorado Buffaloes vs. 12-seed Georgetown Hoyas, 12:15 p.m. (CBS)

Hahaha... you know exactly who you’re rooting for.

4-seed Florida State Seminoles vs. 13-seed UNC-Greensboro Spartans, 12:45 p.m. (truTV)

Tough root against the city that Buddy Boeheim’s mayor of, but the ‘Noles are enjoyable enough. #goacc

3-Kansas Jayhawks vs. 14-seed Eastern Washington Eagles, 1:15 p.m. (TBS)

Kansas is apparently past its COVID issues. The lack of real prep time for this game may make it a closer one than it otherwise would be. But KU probably takes home the win.

8-seed LSU Tigers vs 9-seed St. Bonaventure Bonnies, 1:45 p.m. (TNT)

Meh on the Bonnies. Geaux Tigers.

1-seed Michigan Wolverines vs. 16-seed Texas Southern Tigers, 3 p.m. (CBS)

Tune in to watch Michigan look like a 1-seed.

5-seed Creighton Bluejays vs. 12-seed UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos, 3:30 p.m. (truTV)

Creighton deserves to lose for the sole reason of making “bluejays” one word. But beyond that, they looked like a disaster in the Big East Tournament so this is a fun upset watch.

2-seed Alabama Crimson Tide vs. 15-seed Iona Gaels, 4 p.m. (TBS)

Watch future Syracuse coach Nate Oats stomp Iona en route to a possible Final Four run.

6-seed USC Trojans vs. 11-seed Drake Bulldogs, 4:30 p.m. (TNT)

Going into the NCAA Tournament, it was easy to call the Pac-12 a bunch of frauds. But Oregon State beat Tennessee and UCLA won its First Four matchup with Michigan State, so... maybe not?

2-seed Iowa Hawkeyes vs. 15-seed Grand Canyon Antelopes, 6:26 p.m. (TBS)

Luke Garza could destroy anyone, but it seems unfair to match him up against what’s essentially a for-profit college in this game.

7-seed Connecticut Huskies vs. 10-seed Maryland Terrapins, 7:10 p.m. (CBS)

Would love to root for neither school. But without a meteor to cheer for, I guess we’ll pull for the Terps.

4-seed Virginia Cavaliers vs. 13-seed Ohio Bobcats, 7:15 p.m. (truTV)

The Hoos haven’t had much time to prep for Ohio, and that should add some intrigue. As we witnessed, UVA can be caught sleeping a bit.

8-seed Oklahoma Sooners vs. 9-seed Missouri Tigers, 7:25 p.m. (TNT)

A matchup of one-time Big 12 rivals for the right to probably lose to Gonzaga.

1-seed Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. 16-seed Norfolk State Spartans, 9:20 p.m. (TBS)

The Zags haven’t lost all season and they won’t start in this game.

6-seed BYU Cougars vs. 11-seed UCLA Bruins, 9:40 p.m. (CBS)

There’s some fun potential here as the Cougars have been an enjoyable watch and the Bruins may have gained some momentum in the First Four win over MSU.

3-seed Texas Longhorns vs. 14-seed Abilene Christian Wildcats, 9:50 p.m. (truTV)

Expect Texas to be just fine here.

7-seed Oregon Ducks vs. 10-seed VCU Rams, 9:57 p.m. (TNT)

If you’re still up for this one, there’s some entertaining offensive possibilities here.